blizzard is sweeping through the northeast. it's dumped nearly two feet of snow on new england and knocked out power to more than half a million customers. the storm is blamed for four deaths in canada and major airports on the east coast are closed. abc news reporter lindsay has the latest. >> drivers slipping and sliding on treacherous roads. >> the weather beat us to the punch so yeah i borrowed a friend's truck. >> on new york aland's us puts expressway, hundreds of cars got stuck with hundreds of drivers spending the night on the road. even 18 wheels weren't enough to conquer the conditions. >> we need a plow. >> nearly three feet of snow is falling in some places and it's still coming down. winds traveling at up to 83 miles an hour whipping up ocean waters and causing flooding from massachusetts to maine. >> if you lose power, and we are experiencing a lot of wind at that time, you should plan on your power being out for some

period of time. >> and this morning over 600,000 people waking up without power. >> make sure you have basic food supplies, medications at home. and prepare for the possibility of being shut in and at home for the next 24 or 48 hours. >> many residents say they are as prepared as they can be. >> running space heaters right now for the house because the electrical is out. now we are getting some food. >> armies of snowplows and salt trucks are clearing the snow, sometimes with the roads even getting the better of them. >> the roads are so bad right now that i would honestly rather walk than drive. >> here in new york city and across the state, most of the snow has already fallen. in man hitten we have less than a foot, but in massachusetts, rhode island and in maine they are still expecting another six inches. abc news, new york. >> this morning sfo officials are still assessing how many flights will be affected today,

but united has cancelled all flights to newark through midday. american airlines has cancelled all of today's flights bound for jfk in new york. all major airports in new york and boston are closed with dozens of other flights to east coast cities delayed. tonight there are some nonstops to new york that could be affected. yesterday northeast storm forced more than 4700 flight cancellations, including 83 flights out of sfo. the grapevine on interstate 5 to southern california is open again this morning after being closed last night due to snow. last night drivers were escorted through in both directions. the length between los angeles and bakersfield completely reopened around 1:30 this morning. if it hadn't been a setup of bank of america branch in oakland, it might be a pile of rubble now. a san jose man, the 28-year-old, had plotted to blow up the bank with a truck bomb.

but as it is reported, an undercover operation foiled the potential deadly plot. >> according to federal court documents, the man planned to bomb this bank of america in oakland. it went like clock work, right up until he set off the bomb with a cell phone. that's what when the fbi swooped in and arrested him. this ups driver saw the action. >> at 2:00 in the morning when i came by biand the fbi agents were all around here. >> in reality an undercover fbi agent kept close tabs on him as posing as a taliban operative. as part of his plan he first wanted to bomb the san francisco federal reserve. then he decided that was too secure so he chose the open bank of america site. according to the fbi, five gallon buckets like this one filled with chemicals would have been the basic pieces of the bomb. agents say he also purchased cell phones and other items to be used in a triggering device. the plan was to drive the bomb with its components packed aboard an s.u.v. and detonate it

in a spot to bring down the entire bank of america building. it's a plot the customers were clearly shocked to here about. >> wow. seriously? >> the fbi said the man tried making contact with a taliban operative shortly after getting out of jail on an illegal firearms charge. he was arrested at his father's san jose home. that was in 2011. according to court documents he lived in an rv that he often parked on the front driveway. his father would not let him into the home alone in order to safeguard his younger children because of his son's history of drug use and mental health issues. n april, 2011, he was arrested when police respond today a disturbance here. that's when police found he had an ak-47 and a high capacity clip which is illegal in california. neighbors were surprised. >> a terrorists down the street from your house? anybody could live next door. it happens, i guess. but it's really scary. >> we made several attempts to

contact his father and other family members. unfortunately those attempts have been unsuccessful. in san jose, abc7 news. and we are learning more about matthew. his father said he served in the marine corps before being discharged for an undisclosed reason. while he was in arizona he became an expert in weapons , assembly and started a company. he reported to islam sometime before moving back to the bay area. if convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. hundreds of people came october in fairfield last night to remember a 13-year-old girl who was murdered a week ago. this morning 32-year-old anthony jones is in jail on suspicion of murder, kidnapping, rape and lewd or lascivious acts on a child. he lived blocks from where the victim, genelle conway-allen, was last seen alive. allen wong has more from

fairfield. ♪ i once was lost and now am >> hours after her -- the arrest of her killer, 300 people or more gathered here for a vigil. >> i miss her really bad. >> she was my best friend. >> police arrested 32-year-old anthony lamar jones for murder, kidnapping and rape of a child. >> jones was identified as a suspect early on in this case. since that time he has been under 24 hour surveillance. >> police scoured his two-story home in this fairfield neighborhood. they also searched the barbershop he opened in fairfield last year. genelle was last seen a week ago. she left her foster parent's home in sue suisun city for school.

her body was found the next day. >> i have actually been out of her life about a year or so. >> her father, josh allen, said he and genelle's mother had trouble with drugs and lost custody of genelle last year. but in spite of their obstacles, he said she kept a smile on her face. >> a great kid, a great child. very loving, affectionate. i love her with all my heart. >> i also spoke to the accused killer's mother who said she has been following this story and praying for genelle's family, only to be devastated to find out that the prime suspect is her son. reporting in fairfield, i'm allen wong, abc7 news. we continue to follow developing news. the search of the former police officer accused of killing three people in southern california. that search resumes at 7:00 a.m. this picture of christopher dorner was taken on january 28th by a security hotel at a hotel in orange county. it's the most recent photo of the man that we know of. here's the latest on the search. >> snow is blanketing big bear valley made the manhunt for

ex--cop and accused killer, and it's challenging, at best. they began scouring big bear thursday when his smoldering truck and tracks were found there. >> those tracks are not related to dorner. >> there was also report of a door kick in the -- in in the 7 oaks area. they checked that out. it's old damage. >> air support had to be called off because of the storm. police used snow machines to check more than 200 cabins. unked cover of darkness, two-person units will patrol the area overnight. that's twelve more teams than usual. all-out hunt will resume in the morning. >> if the possibility exists that he is here somewhere in the forest so we are going to keep looking until we determine that he is -- he's not here. >> in orange county a search warrant was served at the home of his mother. police seized ten paper grocery bags of evidence. >> the mother and sister were here and they allowed us in and they are cooperating with the investigation.

>> the man is a former navy reservist and is suspected of killing a former l.a. police officer's daughter and he wants to have revenge for his dismissal from the lapd. he claims he was unjustly fired for exposing abuse within the fire. he claims to have a 50 caliber rifle capable of slicing through police body armor. his ex-girlfriend is worried he -- show may be the next target. >> i don't see a peaceful ending in the situation just because he's committed so many heinous acts at this point. >> the search on bear mountain resumes at 7:00 a.m. with weather permitting. police are being extremely cautious and authority re, even checking some undeveloped land be longing to his mother 35 miles west of big bear lake. there was no sign dorner had ever been there. >> in the newsroom, abc7 news. >> stay tuned for continuing coverage of the l.a. police

manhunt. we will update you. >> coming up, the widow are former coach paterno is defending her husband. what she's written to his former football players. and lived louie looks into an intriguing idea to merge the bay area into one giant city-state. plus a young woman who got sassy with a judge, flipping him off during a court appearance, we will find out what happened when she saw him again yes

so if you have a flat tire, dead battery, need a tow or lock your keys in the car, geico's emergency roadside assistance is there 24/7. oh dear, i got a flat tire. hmmm. uh... yeah, can you find a take where it's a bit more dramatic on that last line, yeah? yeah i got it right here. someone help me!!! i have a flat tire!!! well it's good... good for me. what do you think? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

>> the widow of former football coach joe paterno said her husband was a moral, disciplined man who never twisted the truth. it was in a letter she sent to the football players yesterday. joe paterno was fired in 2011 in connection with the child sexual abuse scandal involving then assistant coach gerald sandusky. tomorrow the family will release their response to the investigation that accused joe of covering up allegations against jerry sandusky. katie couric will have an exclusive interview with sue paterno on monday. that's at 3:00 p.m. on "katie" only on abc7. this morning a florida teenager is out of jail after she made a tearful apology to the judge she insulted. >> are you serious?

>> i am serious. audios. [bleep] >> come back again. come back again. >> the antics of the 18-year-old monday went viral online and resulted in the judge doubling her $5,000 bail on a drug possession charge and giving her 30 days in jail for contempt. yesterday the woman was back in a miami-dade courtroom and much more humble in front of the same judge. >> my behaver was very irrational, and i apologize not only to the court and you, but

♪ we were skipping stones and letting go ♪

[ female announcer ] nature valley granola bars, rich dark chocolate, toasted oats. perfect combinations of nature's delicious ingredients, from nature valley. ♪ nature valley granola bars, nature at its most delicious. with simple, real ingredients, like roasted peanuts, creamy peanut butter, and a rich dark-chocolate flavor, plus 10 grams of protein, so it's energy straight from natureo you. nature valley protein bars.

ou - ♪ ♪that special something that will carry you through...♪ ♪that little reward for all the things you do.♪ luscious, creamy filling - combined with our slowmelting chocolate - the one and only ghirardelli squares chocolate. for all the things you do. now try creamy crunchy hazelnut crisp

david louie explains what is behind such a sweeping proposal. >> there are 101 city necessary the nine bay area counties. it's sometimes difficult to tell when you cross a border unless you see the city limit signs. paul challenged business and civic leaders to think about dissolving the lines as the opportunity arises. >> what you have to do is catch a moment when the politician or a leader is retiring and say maybe it's time to combine our city management positions or our fire departments. >> he's a tech futurist. he spoke at the state of the valley conference, suggesting the bay area should think of itself as a city-state. a single entity that works

cooperatively to save money and improve services. some have already recognized the benefit of consolidation. the police, fire and emts are combined and they also serve residents of monte sereno. >> they have lots of small fire departments. l.a. county costs less per citizen and they have a fleet of nine fire helicopters. the bay area has no fire helicopters at all. the president of the san jose silicon valley chamber of commerce embraces the city-state concept. >> we really do, as a region, as a bay area region, need to figure out how we cooperate, how we consolidate operations from a public sector to really give our taxpayers more bang for the buck. >> however, elected officials and residents urge caution over accountability and control. >> as we grow, we look at how we can regionalize services, but maintain it between voters and policymakers. >> everybody has their own

opinion. >> some decision are more conservative, some are more liberal. i think it makes the world a better lays when you have different opinions. >> the idea of creating a bay area city-state is bold, maybe even daunting but that was probably said also back in the '60s when they were starting to create and think about bart. the idea is certainly going to be creating a lot of controversy and debate. in san jose, david louie, abc7 news. >> coming up next, a chapter out of with the bay area's rich rock n' roll history. a battle of the band competition entering his 50th year and some of the musicians who have come out of it. let's take a live look outside from our roof cam. along the embarcadero looking at the bay and the bay bridge. a gorgeous, clear morning. you are looking at about 47 degrees. giants fans waiting at at&t park for fan fest, braving the cold to be first in line. lisa is going to have your full lisa is going to have your full forecast in [ woman ] don't forget the yard work! okay. [ male announcer ] with citibank's popmoney, dan can easily send money by email right from his citibank account. nice job ben.

[ male announcer ] next up, the gutters. citibank popmoney. easier banking. standard at citibank.

makes it easy for anne to manage her finances when she's on the go. even when she's not going anywhere. citibank for ipad. easier banking. standard at citibank.

>> welcome back, everyone. it's 6:39. we had to take you outside of the bay area for this leave look. this is new town, massachusetts in complete white-out conditions. take our word for it, that is a town but all you can see is snow. oh, there you can see a person walking through there. that gives it some context for you. what a mess. more than two feet of snow so far in new england. power is out to 650,000 customers. just total blizzard conditions. but it should be wrapping up by this afternoon. lisa argen will have your local forecast come up, as well. >> it is said to be the longest-running rock band

competition. tonight they will gather in front of screaming fans for the battle of the bands in hayward. abc7 news reporter jonathan bloom shows us how it has endured for half a century. >> these youngsters are eighth graders from san francisco! >> twelve minutes is all you get to impress the crowd and win the battle of the bands. >> when you are talking show changes and hats and tamborines >> steve and rob are competing in the tribute band fleetwood mask. >> they know judging will be tough. >> you guys get graded on the costumes? >> yes. they are very particular. the pennant that i have on is a duplicate of what stevie nix actually wore on stage. >> if they don't do it in 12 minutes, the curtain goes down. >> in 1964 it was the teenage battle of the bands. >> and the best band that wins is going to play at a dance, a local dance. that's how it started.

>> in the '70s the hayward park district opened it up to all ages. in the 930s they added prizes. >> they get studio time, they get merchandise and sometimes with the studio time they get a record label. >> for those lucky enough to compete, this is hallow ground. a place where bands have gotten their big breaks and where rock stars have launched their careers. >> this was the battle of the bands in the bay area. >> 1974 dave won the battle with his band yesterday and today. now they play to sold-out stadiums when they are in germany. >> made it sort of like a thing. if you want to make it big, man, you have to win the battle of the bands. and make a big like wyatt t did. >> but you don't have to win to make it big. you may have never heard of the agent of misfortune, but the basist went on to play with. metallic kau and some with ozzy osbourne. >> >> some seem to prosper later. >> this year they are back as a special guest to show their support. >> i hope it keeps going and going. we need things like this for

musicians. >> in hayward, jonathan bloom, abc7 news. >> lisa argen keeping an eye on the weather on the west coast where things are nice. >> yes. we will talk about the east coast, but right now it's very cold out there. parts of our east bay valleys, even the north bay and san jose in the mid-50s. this is a view from mt. tam. the camera is shaking a little bit. upper elevation winds are keeping some bay area neighbors warmer. i'll explain and have a look at your seven day outlook. that's straight ahead. >> thank you, lisa. also ahead, 7 on your side's michael finney explains why things don't always come up rose [ male announcer ] pillsbury grands biscuits. delicious. but say i press a few out flat... add some beef sloppy joe sauce... and cheese fold it all up and boom! i just made an unbeatable unsloppy joe pillsbury grands biscuits. let the making begin. [ malcrrkkhshziiiizzlllee. to this symphony of flavor:

beautiful. shhhhshshshshhshshhhhhsshhhshs. gorgeous! here comes the crescendo. kkerrrrbbuuuuuucraaackkk. just...incredible. pillsbury toaster strudel. if beethoven made breakfast.

if you plan to send flowers through a local florist this valentine's day, we have a warning for you. some companies who appear to be local are actually out of the area, even out of the state. here's michael finney with a 7 on your side investigation. when you have flowers delivered on valentine's day, how do you pick a florist? many go online and look for one located in the town where they want to send the flowers. here's a listing for palo alto. it shows a nice woman in one photograph, a nice flower shop in another. very palo alto, or is it? dig deeper into the website and you will find this. palo alto florist.com is based in los angeles. >> there's a lot of activity on the internet, there's a lot of activity in the print media where folks are trying to take the lure or the attraction that local florists have.

>> that's assemblyman bob. he's sick and tired of this type of thing. he got a new law passed. >> what the law says is that if you are going to use these local names, then have the local address there. >> if you don't, the assemblyman says you can be sued. working on the legislation with the assemblyman is dirk of fremont flowers and gifts. >> we want to make sure nobody is deceiving the consumer into thinking they are dealing with somebody locally when they are not. >> dirk believes he's lost as much as 20% of his business to this type of marketing by a out-of-area companies. >> this practice has led to nor florists going out of business, floor brick and morter florists. >> he pointed me to this fremont florists. here's fremont florists and

gifts. it has a map, i guess a location, and then i check it out for myself. it's an apartment complex. no florist here. we check another listing, fremont florist in the directory. again, no address. but there is a map. although the location doesn't look promising. restricted area, keep out. this is not the kind of sign you normally find at a local florist. we called both listings and received the same recorded announcement for florists. we were never able to determine if they belonged to that company back on the internet we find oakland's one stop flower shop. san francisco's one-stop flower shop, and san jose's one-sop flower shop. three sites with different telephone numbers all linking back to this address in vancouver, washington. i made multiple contacts at the sites mentioned in my report. none responded to my request for information.

law just went into effect on january 1st. i'll keep track of it and let you know if it makes a difference. i'm michael finney, 7 on your side. new this morning san francisco mayor ed lee plans to kickoff the chinese new year's celebration at a ceremony at 1:00 at the hilton hotel. year of the snake will be welcomed in at 4:00 with a celebration at westfield san francisco center. in beijing the year of the snake was welcomed with an ancient heaven worshiping ceremony and lion dance. most will mark the beginning of the new lunar calendar tonight when the dragon makes room for the snake. we have some breaking news we want to tell you about quickly here. there's been a very large earthquake in columbia. a 7.0 magnitude. but it was a deep earthquake in western columbia and so far no reports of damage. we will keep an eye on that and let you know if there are any

updates or trouble there. meanwhile not so troublesome here weather-wise except cold. >> we have some temperatures flirting with freezing. clear sky throughout the bay area. we head out and look over the east bay from vollmer peak. it is pretty nice out there, although the winds have been just to go 20 to 25 miles an hour on top of mt. tam and mt. diablo. we are looking at cool temperatures down in the valleys. 7:06. ten hours 36 minutes of daylight. so as we check out our own local radar on top of the mount saint helena, live doppler 7hd, not much to talk about. we have our sweep and we also have the run around the bay. it is clear. but as we head to the northeast, it is a record book for this snowstorm, nemo. 29.3 inches of rain. maine the greatest snowfall record on record.

boston with sixth greatest. 21.8 and new york city 211.4 and connecticut 30.8 inches. five states here look at blizzard warnings. the actual area of low pressure is off the coast now of boston. so it continues to spin the snow through parts of long island and boston. it is pulling away. northeastern maine will look at the last of the snow later on this evening. good morning, san jose. 34 for you. 37 on the coast. it is chilly in our north bay but not as cold as it could be if we didn't have the winds blowing about. 46 in fair feel. by the monterey bay, you see the 29 in gilroy. later on gorgeous in monterey. but on the cool side. 38 right now. 33 in santa cruz. sunny and dry this weekend. mild pattern into next week. then you get a little nervous about seeing so very little rain. in fact, this area of low pressure, it brought some rain, of course and even some snow in

the sierra nevada. the southern sierra. it pulls away so we are in between system. that low pulls away. the counter clockwise flow and high pressure builds into the eastern pacific. with the clockwise flow we are looking a the a dry northerly flow and high pressure will be our dominant weather maker not only for the rest of the weekend but into the week ahead. temperatures today in the upper 50s in southern california with 58 in sacramento. so they are warming up there. we are still cool at the coast at 55. upper 50s in chico. only 33, though, in tahoe. tag you back home, fan fest san francisco. 56 degrees. 58 down in san jose. average temperatures in and around the 60-degree mark. a little shy of that about upper 50s in napa. 60 santa rosa, one of the warmer locks. oakland about 60 and pebble beach, the pro-am third round, mid-50s today. and 58 in gilroy. the look ahead, we are looking at temperatures really not changing too much into tomorrow

but by monday a slight warming and tuesday a look at the light northeast flow continuing to allow numbers to warm into the low to mid-60s. wednesday and thursday look to be the warmest temperatures. spring like for instance valentine's and a few high clouds by the end of the week. so like it or not, we are stuck with the dry pattern. >> i kind of like it. sorry. thank you, lisa. if you need inspiration for your weight loss or fitness goals, here it is. ali is the first woman to win the biggest loser after dropping 112 pounds. now she's a best selling author and motivational speaker and she's training for her first full ironman competition. it's a 2 1/2 mile swim, 100-mile bike ride followed by a full marathon. >> i believe that we can do absolutely anything that we want to do. we absolutely plan, if you have a plan and you train and you stay committed. it's just literally one choice at a time, one step at a time. >> you can see it she makes it

by tuning in to "live big" by ali. it is on tonight. that's digital channel 7.2 and channels 195 and 715 on comcast. >> coming up next, a concert. the first due wet performed on earth an ♪ we were skipping stones and letting go ♪

♪ over the river and down the road ♪ [ female announcer ] at nature valley, we know nature comes together in amazing ways. that's why we bring together natural ingredients, like dark chocolate with toasted oats, or sweet golden honey. perfect combinations of nature's delicious ingredients, from nature valley. ♪ ♪ i was thinking that i hope this never ends ♪ [ female announcer ] nature valley granola bars, nature at its most delicious.

>> here's the numbers from last night. nobody picked all six so tuesday night's jackpot now estimated at $13 million. a new song has been released and its unlike any other ever produced. ♪ ♪ look out my window ♪ there goes home the song is called "in somebody

singing" and the singer is bare naked lady's member ed robertson on the ground and canadian astronaught chris hatfield orbiting in the international space station. it's the first duo performed simultaneously in space and on the ground. sounds pretty good. new this morning, this is one of the sweetest days of the year for lovers of girl scout cookies. it's the big cookie drop. more than 3 million boxes of girl scout cookies are distribute today northern california scouts. it will be our first look at a new box design and the cookies go john sale starting tomorrow through march 17th. more than 30,000 girls in 19 northern california cities will be selling the treats to raise funds for their educational programs. last year a record 4.3 million boxes were sold. some to me, some to you, as well? >> absolutely. >> how can you pass them up. >> a little cold to start this morning with 30s in the

valleys of the east bay. 59 later on in concord and 57 in palo alto. the cooler numbers at the coast, 55 half moon bay and 56 for fan fest. later on today downtown san francisco. 58 in santa cruz. it is cold right now. numbers just at about 33. the look ahead. notice very little change. we are warming up by midweek. >> lisa, thank you. thank you, everyone, for joining us on the abc7 saturday morning news.

♪

i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! my bowl, my spoons! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios has whole grain and 110 delicious calories. ...more grains. less you! multigrain cheerios in multi-grain cheerios peanut butter. good morning, america. this morning, manhunt, the desperate search for a desperate man. as the massive dragnet for this man, christopher dorner, ramps up this morning, thousands of officers will be using extreme tactics, including heat-sensing technology, and special weapons to find the fugitive. fighting freezing cold as they

comb the resort town of big bear. as police search for the former officer, a man with knowledge of their tactics. new concerns this morning that the trail may have gone cold. storm for the ages. some 43 million americans waking up this morning to a winter disaster. a historic storm that's dumped up to three feet of snow from new jersey to maine. power is out for more than 600,000 homes and businesses. highways and roads are at a standstill. thousands of flights grounded. all this, while the snow is still falling in boston. our extreme weather team is out in force to bring you the latest on the blizzard of 2013. good morning, everybody. i think we have a live shot of the snow coming down in new england at this moment. the blizzard of 2013, not finished yet. and the effects, i can guarantee this, we'll be feeling them for